Check Bob Brigham’s photos from the torch relay and the associated protests over the flip.

UPDATE (by Dave): The phalanx of security around this torch relay is ridiculous.  You probably can’t even see the runners unless you’re in a helicopter.  Mayor Newsom truncated the relay from 8 miles to 3 just a few hours before the parade started.  Not sure why he should have bothered at all.  Hundreds of security forces forming a human chain – must be proud, eh, San Francisco?

UPDATE (by Dave): A friend emails:

i just stood out on embarcadero for over an hour while the cops told us “it’s coming, it’s coming right along here.”  meanwhile the torch was already headed at its ponderous pace down van ness.  fucking pissed.

Yes, the route apparently keeps changing.  Apparently the protesters got fairly close to the relay a couple minutes ago, halting it for a short while.  It’s kind of a cat-and-mouse game right now.

UPDATE (by Dave): The torch is not headed anywhere near Justin Herman Plaza, that’s pretty clear.  It’s around Crissy Field right now, headed west toward the GG Bridge.  And I guess there’s an amphibious vehicle out in front of the relay runners.  That torch may be getting wet.

UPDATE (by Dave): Another, better feed here.  Willie Brown was supposed to be a TORCH BEARER for this thing?  It looks like they’re headed to the bridge.

UPDATE (by Dave): AP: “Closing ceremony for torch relay will take place at an undisclosed location.”  Will Dick Cheney be lighting the torch with his eyes, then?

It’s a good thing that the people of San Francisco were honored with the ability to have this ceremony hidden from them.

UPDATE (by Brian): Christine Pelosi has a good post at HuffPo:

For all the big talk of putting on a show, all that free speech obviously overwhelmed the authorities. Instead of braving a peaceful gauntlet of freedom fighters, the torch was secreted away to an alternate route. Encased by police and barricaded by a SWAT team, the torch movement was barely visible to a TV crowd. And what is the ironic takeaway as we await the rescheduled, secluded “closing” ceremonies? The protesters did not extinguish the Olympic flame today — the authorities did.

Supervisor Chris Daly

Stopping a Bus:

Look at all the media punked by the closing ceremonies beyond moved:

Luke Thomas:

Here’s a live feed of the events in San Francisco today, courtesy Students for a Free Tibet. Check it out over the flip.

If you’re on the parade route you’re not likely to see anything, because police officers will form a human shield around the torch carriers.  Which makes you wonder why they’re bothering to do this at all.  The CHP and the US Secret Service are on hand as well.

We’ll have more as it happens…

UPDATE: The House just passed a resolution supporting Tibet and calling on China to end their crackdown.

Students for a Free Tibet has plenty more.

Steve Lopez has an extraordinary column in today’s LA Times about a meeting at the Silver Lake school where his daughter is about to start kindergarten:

The auditorium was packed; the mood somber. About 200 parents had come to hear what everyone knew would be disturbing news. An anticipated $180,000 budget shortfall might well cost three critically important Ivanhoe educators their positions at the school, though they might be transferred elsewhere.

The parents group at the school had summoned families to tell them the news. And to present an alternative: a public education that would no longer be free.

Get out your checkbooks, parents were told. All those wrapping-paper sales and pancake fundraisers wouldn’t be enough. We could either pony up some hard cash, or see Ivanhoe’s standing as one of L.A. Unified’s best schools threatened….

Pay $25, if that’s all you can afford, Herman said. But he pointed up to a screen encouraging parents to dig a little deeper. Those three jobs can be saved, he said, if 80 parents contribute $250 apiece, 75 contribute $500, 50 fork over $1,000, 20 give $2,000 and six bust the bank with $5,000 contributions.

Four other L.A. Unified schools have already gone this route, Herman said, citing Canyon, Wonderland Avenue, Carpenter Avenue and Mar Vista.

We’ve heard of schools holding bake sales to pay for books and materials, but never have I heard of schools fundraising to retain teachers. It’s a shocking sign of just how dire the situation facing public education has become in our state, where parents hoping that their children will receive a good education must now open their wallets to ensure it.

Lopez goes on to mention that LA Unified is expecting even worse budget problems in the coming years – $100 million this year, but perhaps as much as $350 million in the next two years. And Lopez rightly points out that not every school can fundraise:

At nearby Micheltorena Street School, where more than 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, the principal told me that of course she can’t match that kind of parental support. She’s hoping that given the greater needs of her students, she’ll be spared harsh cuts. But like other principals, she doesn’t yet know how bad the news will be.

What is going on here is the slow and steady privatization of public education in California. Turning education from something provided to every child free of charge to something provided to those children whose parents are lucky enough to be able to afford the cost.

And if you can’t afford the cost? The implication is clear – your child will sit in a classroom of 35 students, probably won’t learn a whole lot, won’t have a very bright future.

How is this any different from a tax increase? The Vehicle License Fee would, if restored to 1998 levels, eliminate the need for any education cuts at a cost of $150 per driver. Whereas the families at Lopez’ Ivanhoe Elementary are being asked to contribute hundreds or even thousands of dollars to keep teachers in the classroom.

Lopez reports that most parents are willing to pony up for the fundraiser, for the sake of their kids. And that suggests public support for new taxes for education, instead of school-by-school fundraisers, would be popular with state voters. The alternative is the erosion of the critical promise of free education to all of our state’s children. As Lopez so well points out:

when will we ever stop playing this shell game in which politicians rise to power promising prosperity without pain, even as working folks and retirees pay through the nose?

It’s an excellent question, Steve.

After the 80th AD caucus in San Jose, which vacated the CDP endorsement of Manuel Perez‘s chief rival for the nomination, one of the delegates in support of Greg Pettis treated me to their latest talking point on Manuel Perez, namely that his only elected experience so far was that of a board member of a “failed school district.”  This is a bit shortsighted, as Perez’s experience is that of a teacher, healthcare access provider, grassroots youth organizer, researcher, and a successful advocate for millions of dollars for local schools and local jobs in Coachella.  The recent David Binder poll has, after positives and negatives are weighed in, both Pettis and Perez running even in the primary, with Perez winning in the general against (R) Jeandron, and Pettis losing.

But let’s address the fallacy of Democrats adopting GOP talking points on NCLB to attack the those who are in the direct line of fire from Bush’s policy:

(Hat tip to Dale Wissman, labor relations representative with California School Employees Association, who listed the following observations on this subject, with my minor edits.)

Coachella serves some of the poorest students in the entire United States, yet manages to create some of the most powerful tools to improve student achievement.  It is an amazing, activist, innovative school district dealing with massive budget and social issues, but somehow just found a way to pass a two hundred and fifty million dollar bond, which will be matched by state and federal funds, for the construction of state-of-the-art schools.  There might not be three other school districts in the U.S. that serve the population CVUSD serves:  64 percent English learners, 90 percent on free or reduced lunch.

That’s a massive amount of money to bring to bear on one of the poorest communities in the U.S. and Manuel Perez helped shepherd that through.   Nothing like that had ever been done before in Coachella, poorest area of one of the poorest states as far as education spending goes.  California is now 48th out of 50 in terms of state education funding.  If anyone knows intimately what that kind of funding problem looks like on the ground and how it affects achievement, especially in a poor area with lots “of second language speakers, it would be Manuel Perez.  Pettis and Gonzales have no comparable experience in education.  Incidentally, Perez graduated from local schools and he went on to Harvard Graduate School of Education, so it must be doing something right.  .  CVUSD has more than tripled its API score (a California measurement) in the past eight years.

Perez is against No Child Left Behind, perhaps the worst education law ever passed, which is soundly hated by Democrats.  NCLB provides the mechanism to take schools over from local communities, no matter their funding or challenges with poverty or second language learners.  Coachella is an example of a striving school district doing amazing things that nevertheless is punished because of NCLB.  The fact that Pettis campaign wants to use this as an issue says loads about Pettis’ inexperience in education.   Tacitly supporting NCLB because it hurts your opponent is very bad form for a Democrat, and indicates a disturbing and self-defeating opportunism.  Rather than one who parrots Republican NCLB talking points, the 80th AD deserves a representative who doesn’t buy into NCLB, advocates for appropriate funding and accountability for public schools, and can succeed in securing that funding, as Perez has.

Because of his work on behalf of students, parents, teachers and the community, and because of opposition to No Child Left Behind, the education community is endorsing Perez in droves, including the California Teachers Association, with strong local support from the 80th’s school districts.   Neither Pettis nor Gonzales have anyone from the education community endorsing them as yet.

Education spending is more than half the state budget, and Manuel Perez is the only candidate in the primary and general with direct experience here. Education combined with healthcare (another of Perez’s areas of expertise) make up the vast, vast majority of the state budget.  These are also the areas most in danger of being reduced and cut, simply because that’s where most the money is.  

Addendum:

(The other talking point is that noting Perez has a far stronger base than Pettis among crucial East Coachella Valley and Imperial County voters amounts to racism and homophobia, which is bizarre and desperate at worst, and at best misinformed.  The “Crashing the Gates” new Democratic delegates from the 80th AD who voted to endorse Manuel Perez included an openly gay man, an openly gay woman, the (Latino) County Chair of the Imperial County Democratic Central Committee, one Jewish woman, and a Coachella-raised union organizer.)  Manuel’s passion for and experience in providing healthcare, education, and labor reform in the 80th AD and statewide unites a diverse progressive support base.  

There’s a parallel to the Clinton/Obama dynamic here in the 80th-  The heir apparent veteran politician vs. the grassroots organizer.  Pettis had every expectation of sewing this nomination up by the pre-endorsement caucus, as he had the warchest, the connections, and the longtime familiarity of the local Dem clubs.  Manuel was not supposed to pose a real threat, but instead he has the endorsement of

*United Domestic  Workers

*California Teachers Association

*SEIU State Council

*Laborers (LIUNA)

*California Nurses Association

*AFSCME

and just today, the California Labor Federation voted for a dual endorsement of Perez and Pettis, overturning the local Central Labor Councils (both San Diego/Imperial and Riverside/San Bernardino) which had previously endorsed Pettis.  

“Manuel Perez knows first hand the struggles of working families and will be a champion of healthcare, education and creating new jobs in the State Assembly,” proclaimed Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Greg was supposed to be the default Dem here, but a grassroots challenger is upsetting the status quo.

This is my first time facing the wrath of those who got their gate crashed.  It’s a bit unsettling, as we were all in the same camp for Roth in the CA-45th, and now we’re at odds.  But we’ll be together after the primary, when we can send another people-powered representative to the California Assembly.  

Crossposted at dKos

Received this press release today from the Greg Pettis for CA 80th Assembly District campaign.  Pettis presently has the overwhelming support of labor and LGBT groups in his race to replace the termed-out, thank the deity, State Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-CA).  Pettis, much to the chagrin of his opponents, is also picking up key endorsements from the ethnic minority and multicultural communities.

Pettis has also significantly outraised and outspent his Democratic opponents each reporting period.  According to The Desert Sun, in the last reporting period, Pettis raised and spent more monies than all of these Democratic opponents combined.  Of interest, Pettis also outraised his presumptive Republican opponent, Gary Jeandron, by a significant margin!

Add to this the fact that the current voter registration favors the Democrats.  Thanks to the local Democratic clubs, activists have shifted the 80th AD voter registration from a majority Republican in 2000, to a more than 15,000 voter advantage at present.  And, this does not include the Decline to State voters which have been since 2004 trending Democratic.  Bodes well for a Pettis candidacy in November 2008.

Here is the text of the press release:

For Immediate Release

April 8, 2008

For More Information, contact Richard Oberhaus 760-413-7938

Cathedral City Councilmember Greg Pettis picked up four critical endorsements in the last week from labor and a Latino group, both keys to winning the 80th Assembly District.

More below the flip…

Earlier today, the California AFL-CIO Committee on Public Education endorsed Pettis for the 80th Assembly District. They join the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) who represent 179,000 workers in California and the California State Council of Laborers, who had previously endorsed one of Pettis’s primary election opponents.

Pettis also won the endorsement of HONOR PAC, a statewide Latino group representing Latino and Latina LGBT communities.

The four endorsements cemented Pettis’s position as frontrunner in the Democratic primary in the race to replace Bonnie Garcia, who is prohibited by term limits from serving another term in the 80th Assembly District.

Pettis has previously won endorsements from all the Central Labor Councils representing the 80th Assembly District as well as the California League of Conservation Voters, Cathedral City Professional Firefighters, Progressive Majority, Democracy for America and the Victory Fund.

He has also raised more money than any Democrat running for the 80th Assembly District and has more individual donors than any other candidate.

“We are building a broad-based grassroots coalition that will continue to build momentum through November. Residents of the 80th are coming together behind the need to bring experience to Sacramento to change the way Sacramento works and create a healthier California for all of us,” Pettis said.

Other unions endorsing Pettis include the Building Trades Union of California, Cathedral City Professional Firefighters, San Bernardino/Riverside Counties Central Labor Council, San Diego/Imperial Counties Central Labor Council, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 440.

LGBT community electeds, organizations and activists endorsing Pettis thus far include U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, State Senator Carol Migden, State Assemblyman Mark Leno, Palm Springs City Councilwoman Ginny Foat, Palm Springs City Councilman Rick Hutcheson, Cathedral City City Councilman Paul Marchand, Desert Hot Springs City Councilman Karl Baker, the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club, the Inland Stonewall Democratic Club, the Victory Fund, and Bill and Brad Adams, Bill Cain-Gonzalez, Cynthia Davis, Desert Stonewall Democrats Public Relations Chair Donald W. Grimm, Ph.D., Bond Shands, Desert Stonewall Democrats Treasurer Robert Silverman, and Lynn Worley.

Latino and Latina community activists endorsing Pettis include Palm Springs Democratic Club co-founder Lisa Arbelaez, Christopher Arellano, Larry Baza, Bill Cain-Gonzalez, Tony & Sylvia Escobedo, Mayon Gonzalez, Rodolfo Martinez, Leticia Quezada, Nicole Ramirez, 41st Congressional District Candidate Rita Ramirez-Dean, Ph.D., Dan Ruiz, Ed Torres, and Joe Velasquez.